In 21 combined starts at Portland (AA) and Pawtucket (AAA), Buchholz posted a 2.15 ERA (117 innings). He leads all minor league pitchers with 164 strikeouts.

RedSox.com:

Red Sox Nation will be watching to see if Buchholz's extraterrestrial curveball is the real deal. Buchholz also commands a plus changeup and an above-average slider, while his fastball runs in the mid- to low-90s. He will likely benefit from facing the Angels, an aggressive lineup lacking in thump.

Buchholz was chosen by the Red Sox in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft as compensation for departed free agent Pedro Martinez.

It looks like Buchholz will be sent back down to Pawtucket after the game and Jacoby Ellsbury will be recalled for today's nightcap.

Thanks to Detroit's 8-5 win over the Yankees last night, the East lead is now 5.5.

149 comments:

Looks like he'll be "designated for assignment" before the game to make room for Clay. Can they just leave him DFA for the 10 days, and assuming he clears waivers (regular, not trade, obviously), try to send him to AAA, which he will evidently refuse, so we could undesignate him at that point?

Or is the die cast, and if he refuses the assigment, the only remaining options are to trade him or release him?

I have a feeling that the die is cast at that point. I'm sad, too. I agree with Theo about WMP's "upside". I saw him a couple times here in Louisville (Cincy's AAA team), and he's impressive, but he needs 400-500 ABs for a couple seasons to really develop his talent.

I know I'm biased, but I would think he'd see value in accepting assignment and getting serious playing time in Pawtucket. Though I guess the same thing would happen if he wound up in a lesser MLB team than Boston.

But that's assuming he even clears waivers.

Sorry for the rambling - just trying to figure out some way to keep WMP even if he gets DFAed today.

A lot of people see the Buchholz call-up as a "desperation move" or something. How is letting Buchholz pitch the first game of a double-header (and then sending him back to the minors) a "despiration move"? It's a chance to see how well the kid does against MLB level talent. What's wrong with that?

The Red Sox will purchase his contract, clearing a spot that will be used for his first Major League start. After the game, he will be sent down, at which point Jacoby Ellsbury will occupy the roster spot vacated by Buchholz in the nightcap. The Red Sox have not announced whose spot Buchholz will take.

I know they have to report what actually happens, but is there any Sox Nation Member that *doesn't* know who Buchholz is going to replace?

RE: DFA - First he has to clear waivers to accept the minor league deal, which he already has done.

Second the 10 days is the most as far as a trade, after 8 days then the Player (If I am reading the contract right) can refuse the trade and become a free agent.

Third if there is no trade or he does not declare free agency then he can do like Piniero and accept the assingmnet.

Pena may accept the assingment due to his ties to the organization, ie good relationship with Theo, Francona, Ortiz and etal. I would not be surprised if he did accept but I also would not be surprised if he declared free agency.

Edes update:in his pregame meeting Terry Francona said he doesn’t have a roster move to report, but promised there would be one before the 1 p.m. gametime. Wily Mo Pena was not in the locker room and his jersey was not hanging in his locker.

Well, yes. It's still an interesting point since they've been trying to call us "desperate" for months now.

2. So there are Yankee fans who think the arrival of The Franchise™ was a desperation move? Huh.

Well, when you consider they've been riding the high of beating up on weaker teams for the past few weeks, they're looking for any weakness they can drum up due to the rough part of their schedule arriving on their doorstep at this point.

They can think whatever they want from their lofty position of second place, struggling for the wildcard spot.

Pretty much. If Mussina's outing yesterday is any indication, they're in for a rough couple of weeks. Gee, darn.

Actually, I expected Ellsbury to play CF for Coco, because Coco is still got tired legs (according to newspapers0 from the cold/viral infection. They could play Hinske and move Drew to CF, but don't be surprised if ellsbury is in CF.

About a month ago I was visiting my Mom on the Cape, and my brother had flown in from California. We were watching the Sox game one night when play was halted because Pedroia was having problems with his contact lens. The trainer came out and was messing around with Pedroia's eye, putting drops in and it looked like he was also trying to put the lens back in. The whole episode gave my brother (who isn't much of a baseball fan to begin with) the willies, and the next time Pedroia came up my brother referred to him as "eyeball dude."

So, the first thing I thought when I saw that he hit a homerun was "Yeah, eyeball dude!"

(I know, a lot of mostly irrelevant info from someone you don't know, but maybe "eyeball dude" will stick with some of you the way it did with me.)

Kevin Cash Scouting Report: Terrific all around defensive catcher. His bat, on the other hand, is the reason why he hasn't been able to maintain a career in the majors. Doesn't make enough contact, but is able to take a decent amount of walks. He does have some pop when he makes contact.